Editorial: Tucson Shootings Predictable

(WOIO) - Politicians across the nation have cynically tried to link the tragic shootings in Tucson last week to a climate of incivility in our political discourse.

Well, we ought to be more concerned with the incivility of our approach to the seriously mentally ill many of whom loiter on our street corners and some of whom are dangerous.

The fact is that these sorts of tragedies, violence and murder happen every day at the hands of disturbed individuals. It is happening and will continue to happen because over the last fifty years, we have discarded laws related to institutionalizing the mentally ill while at the same time failing to establish effective outside treatment programs.

Combine that with a slew of new privacy and anti-discrimination laws that make it almost impossible to deal with those who appear to be deranged and what happened in Tucson is predictable.

In the aftermath of last week's shootings, much has been written about those who had encountered Jared Lee Loughner before the shootings and who knew something was desperately wrong. But nothing was ever done.

A pair of gorillas now make their home at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. The zoo is welcoming two new female gorillas ahead of World Gorilla Day, Sept. 24. "Fredrika" (or Freddy) is 43-year-old from Zoo Miami in Miami, FL and 26-year-old and "Kebi Moya" (or Kebi) comes to Cleveland from the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Powell, OH.

A pair of gorillas now make their home at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. The zoo is welcoming two new female gorillas ahead of World Gorilla Day, Sept. 24. "Fredrika" (or Freddy) is 43-year-old from Zoo Miami in Miami, FL and 26-year-old and "Kebi Moya" (or Kebi) comes to Cleveland from the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Powell, OH.